Approximately one year in the past at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were at last given the green light as F1's most recent participant for the 2026 season. Establishing the squad from nothing has required a hectic work rate that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As Formula One converges on the Vegas strip this weekend, Cadillac are aware time is getting tight.
The Race Against Time to Australia
At the final race of the campaign to be held in the United States, with approximately a hundred days to go before they make their debut for the inaugural time in Australia at the 2026 opener, Cadillac have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a sisyphean task, they are cognizant there will never be enough hours in the day.
The technical director, Nick Chester, came aboard the nascent project in early 2023 not long after it was established, when the team were without even an approved entry. He has been at its heart since then and gets a wry smile when thinking about the journey.
“There might be five minutes reflecting at what you’ve done and go: ‘Amazing, how impressive what we’ve done in a short three-year period,’” he says. “And then the next minute you think: ‘Well, we’ve still got a significant amount to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Opportunity
Nick Chester had success at Renault in Alonso's championship-winning campaigns of 2005/2006 and was in command of technical direction at the recently formed Mercedes Formula E team, but no other project has been quite like the challenge of introducing the all-American Cadillac marque, a factory team supported by the owner, GM, into Formula One.
“Establishing an F1 team from scratch, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” Chester remarks. “There's nothing comparable. In an existing team you don’t get the opportunity to transform team culture.”
With every day that goes by thoughts are more focused on the looming critical moment in Australia and targets are being set realistically.
“One must presume that a brand-new squad joining the grid is likely to start at the back but simply getting on to the grid will be an achievement in itself,” the team principal stated this year and while Nick Chester echoed this he believed the squad had a statement to make as well.
“The first thing we want to show is that we should be there,” he says. “So we arrive and we function efficiently. We aim to demonstrate that we’re a proper team doing the correct procedures on the track. After we have demonstrated that our credentials are solid, then we want to show forward movement after that.”
Pilot Selection and Recruitment Push
In August they recruited Sergio Perez and Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a pair distinguished for their invaluable experience in performing at the sharp end in two of the sport’s biggest teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes, and Bottas expressed the sentiment of combative optimism.
“Naturally, we are pragmatic,” he commented. “We have a massive task to do, and we expect most likely a difficult start, because it's the top level of motorsport. But our goal isn't to remain at the rear. In my view with this structure, with these individuals, these people, it's entirely possible we can't manage to progress rapidly to the front and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition staff acquisition has been in top gear, with staff now at more than 400 and intended to hit the objective of 600 rapidly. Complementing their current base at Silverstone, the organization are in the process of finishing an HQ at Fishers in Indianapolis and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are constructing the facility to produce the new engine, planned for 2029 – in the meantime they will operate with Ferrari power units – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a complex organisation, contrary to the movement in the sport for increased consolidation, and has led to the fresh organizational mindset to which Nick Chester referred to.
Apollo Blueprint
“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” remarked Lowdon shortly before the Silverstone race in mid-season. “We have a clear-eyed view, we recognize how tough it is. The timelines, are extremely compressed. Well, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it can seem that way.”
So they have implemented, as opposed to the traditional management structure, a flat management structure akin to that of NASA's, where there were a variety of specialist groups all tackling various components of the mission in a multiple sites.
“In a system where you follow a protocol where an issue arises and they escalate it to their manager, that manager talks to a manager somewhere else, it travels back down, it’s super slow,” says the CTO. “We give authority to staff to handle things directly. Moving away from management approval for all decisions is far more efficient and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this flexible methodology will be tested in the pressure of racing in 2026 and there is a considerable amount riding on this for the sport, too. Cadillac have taken on as their reserve driver the emerging American Colton Herta
